The Best Starter Builds for the Ultimatum League
Patch 3.14

Patch 3.14 will launch soon and alongside it, the Ultimatum League is getting introduced to all the players. The core mechanics of the Ultimatum League appear to be very similar to that you may familiar with from the previous Ritual League. You basically find an object in the area and spawn waves of enemies in its' close proximity. You can continuously spawn extra waves, gradually increasing the difficulty and rewards from such encounters. As the radius of such an arena is rather small, you surely will prefer characters that can take some hits before going down, as monsters can spawn right next to you. Also, having good AoE will help you deal with the waves much faster, in most cases, a character with good AoE should be able to hit most of the monsters simultaneously. However, apparently, the best part of the 3.14 update is not exactly the League's mechanics, but other global changes to the game, just like with the previous Echoes of the Atlas expansion.

With the new Patch, plenty of new interesting Physical abilities get introduced to the game with new Physical DoT effects. Also, there are big changes to Life/Mana reservation mechanics, and finally, you will be able to scale your DPS by increasing your Life and Life recovery - a feast previously available only to selected few classes oriented around Maximum Mana. We are truly looking forward to how this will affect Melee builds in particular, as they were always known for relying on Life and Life Leech. There are also big changes to the Berserker class which have been reworked completely. He received a new defensive mechanism - Defiance, and as Class, apparently it may be viable for Physical Spell Caster builds, so it may also be an interesting class to play in 3.14 (possibly also with Reap?). Other than that we are looking at a lof of minor/numeric changes, some new Unique Items, and thorough changes to Vaal Skill Gems as well. 

PLEASE NOTE: The following list is based on our team's overall experience from previous Patches and currently available data about Patch 3.14 and the upcoming Ultimatum League. Even without all the detailed information and actual testing in practice, the list should be quite accurate as most of the skills receive just numeric changes. So whatever was best in 3.13 most likely will still stay extremely powerful and a viable build choice for the new content

#1

Blade Blast Inquisitor (3.14 READY) - last Patch we recommended playing a Blade Blast Chieftain (which is also a great Starter option for 3.14 as well) but the recent changes to Inquisitor class put him in a completely different league. Even with the current nerfs to Blade Blast, you simply can't go wrong with this build. It deals a ton of damage, has amazing burst, and it's extremely tanky. Inquisitors tend to run at the highest effective Life/Energy Shield pool combined, with tons of Regeneration and Leech that applies to both, allowing you to take damage like no other character in the game. The playstyle may not be for every Path of Exile player, as we have seen many to prefer a "one button builds" but in this case, having to use several different abilities in proper order is extremely rewarding, and you will see most of the Bosses die within seconds into the fight

#2

Glacial Cascade Miner (3.14 READY) - one of the most popular Starter builds in the entire of PoE which received a lot of love in the previous Patches. It offers amazing AoE damage based on Physical to Cold conversion which allows you to easily scale with it more expensive end-game gear. As a Miner/Saboteur you can expect tons of damage purely from Passive Skills and Skill Gems which makes this a great Starter build. Also, defenses based on Dodge, Evasion, relatively good Life pool and massive Life Regen allows you to easily progress through content

#3

Reap Assassin (3.14 READY) - this is a completely new build that is got introduced to the game in Patch 3.14. It's based on a new very interesting AoE/Physical DoT Spell Reap, which deals high Physical Damage in an area and applies a powerful Damage over Time effect. According to our calculations, you can deal tons of damage both with the initial Hit and the AoE effect and you rely on very high Dodge, Life, Elusive buff, and Life Leech for the defenses. Reap costs Life to cast which will also allow you to easily use additional Auras or other Utility Spells that Reserve Mana for better effect. The build doesn't require any specific Unique Items and offers great all-around stats which makes it fully viable for a League Starter build. There may be better builds for that sole purpose out there, but since it's a completely new build introduced in the newest Patch and has amazing end-game potential, we have decided to give it a spot on our list

#4

Carrion Golem Assassin (3.14 READY) - one of the most popular and powerful Minion builds in the game which is fully viable for a League Starter. All you initially need is a pair of Clayshaper's and you will be breezing through content like a wind. With bigger investments in gear, and potentially going for Low-Life/Shavronne's "Auramancer" you end up with the insanely tanky character that obliterates content without pressing any buttons - your Carrion Golems do all the job for you. Our recommended setup is a standard Life build with plenty of Unique Primordial Jewels equipped, though you can easily start off with any random gear and boost your Minions via Cluster Jewels early in the League. As you progress and build up the Currency, you will be able to gradually get all the Primordial Jewels and more end-game gear without any hassle

#5

Cyclone RT Slayer (3.14 READY) - your standard spin-to-win type of build which offers great damage and solid defenses even on a 0 budget. It doesn't require a single specific Unique Item to start mapping. With the addition of all the new Blood/Life-related Skills that allow you to scale DPS based on your Life or Life spent on skills, we are truly looking forward to how it will affect this particular build. Slayer has always offered high maximum Life and the highest Leech which lets you easily recover it during battle. Time will tell, but regardless of the final output, you shouldn't regret picking up a Cyclone Slayer for your League Starter in the Ultimatum League

If you have any suggestions about other interesting Builds and/or Starter Builds for the Ultimatum League we would love to hear your feedback! The patch is yet to be launched so we are not exactly sure yet what projects should we pursue first. Furthermore, we always appreciate constructive criticism as it helps us improve our content!

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games